PORTLAND, ME – (April 29, 2010) – Jay Piscopo announces the release of his new “Creatures of the Sea” coloring book. This book will debut at the Maine Comics Arts Festival on Sunday, May 23.Piscopo is the author and illustrator of “The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli” graphic novel series.
“This coloring book gives me a chance to highlight Capt’n Eli and some of the major characters in the series as well as the opportunity to show artwork of exotic and dangerous creatures from the sea,” said Piscopo.
From a walrus to a giant octopus to eels and lionfish, each page highlights a single character in a scene with a real or fantastical sea creature.
“A hero in conflict with a giant octopus has been a staple of many pulp adventure and comic book covers and I was inspired by that tradition,” continued Piscopo. “Creatures of the Sea” features three giant octopus scenes, two with the main character, Capt’n Eli. “You’ll also see Sea Ghost racing with sea turtles and Golden Age Commander X and Circe the Sorceress struggle with a giant crab monster.”
(Follow this link to view vintage pulp and comic book covers with a giant octopus theme.)
Created in his signature retro style, this 12-page book is suitable for kids of all ages. Priced at $2, this book is family affordable and, like “The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli,” is something that can be enjoyed together as a family activity.Coloring is one of the oldest and simplest activities and Piscopo has received a lot of response from adults looking forward to this book because they grew up with coloring books and still color as a hobby.
“When I was a kid coloring books seemed to be everywhere,” noted Piscopo. “Today they exist but not in the same abundance. This book is my homage to the heyday of the coloring book fad of the 1960s and 70s. I was greatly influenced by Alex Toth’s coloring book work from the 1960s and inspired by that standard.”
Follow this link for more about Alex Toth. Samples of Toth’s coloring book work can be viewed here and here.
Following the festival, “Creatures of the Sea” will be available for purchase exclusively online at www.captneli.com.On Saturday, May 22 at 10:00am Piscopo will kick off the Maine Comics Arts Festival with a free Kids Cartooning Workshop at the Portland Public Library. In this hour-long workshop, children ages 7-12 are invited to try their hand at cartoon art. Using simple geometric shapes, Piscopo will demonstrate how to build figures and perspective to create art that tells a story.
For a behind the scenes look at this interactive workshop, visit this link.
More about the Maine Comics Arts Festival: The Maine Comics Arts Festival will be held Sunday, May 23 from 10:00am – 5:00pm at Ocean Gateway on the Portland waterfront. Admission is $5 and kids 12 and under are free. Workshops and panels will take place on Saturday, May 22 at the Portland Public Library. More information can be found at this link.
More about Jay Piscopo: Piscopo has been making state-of-the-art children's entertainment for nearly 20 years. He served as an art director at Tom Snyder Productions, where he led the creative team in the production of educational CD-ROMs, including the award-winning “Fizz and Martina Math Adventures” and was as an animator on the ABC Saturday morning show “Squigglevision.” He was also the co-creator of the internationally distributed comic book series featuring the world’s first disabled superheroes, “The Scrap City Pack Rats,” which he created in partnership with Goodwill Industries. Jay is an engaging presenter who has conducted hundreds of comics workshops and classroom events teaching drawing and storytelling techniques. He resides in his hometown of Portland, Maine.
More about “The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli”: With his companions Jolly Roger, a 200-year-old parrot, and the faithful seadog Barney, Capt’n Eli takes readers into a mesmerizing world of time travel, high-tech ships, flying mini-subs, robots, lost civilizations, and undersea empires in conflict. Volumes 1 and 2 are available now and Volume 3 is scheduled for release in 2010. This series is published by Nemo Publishing and distributed nationally by Diamond Comics Distributors.
Capt'n Eli's origins are quite unique. He’s the namesake of real-life World War II veteran Eli Forsley who was also the inspiration for a line of hand-crafted sodas from Portland, Maine. Read more at this link.
www.captneli.com
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